I recently upgraded my version of the Mozilla
Phoenix/Firebird browser from
0.4 to 0.6. I had thought this was going to be a major undertaking,
and that I would find it difficult because I don’t have the
root password on my lap-top, and I didn’t
really want to be installing software as root if I
could avoid it anyway.
But it all worked fine: I could install it as an ordinary user
without any problem, and my bookmarks also transferred. I even
successfully downloaded a Java plug-in. I haven't tried to get Flash
working yet. The new version fixes some bugs, and has some very nice
features. Tabbed browsing is particularly good. This allows you to
open multiple web-pages within one window. You can switch between
them by clicking on “tabs” that poke up above the
currently displayed page like the way folders in a filing cabinet
work. I can open up a folder of bookmarks (my “morning
run”) in a string of tabs, and they all load in parallel. By
the time I've finished looking at the first couple of pages,
everything else is all loaded up, and switching from one to the next
is as simple as hitting Control-W to close the current
tab and move on to the next.
While writing this, the building suffered a power cut. The lights
went out, a loud cry of Shit!!
was heard from my
neighbour, but my lap-top just kept on going. It will be interesting
to see if its battery expires before the power comes back on. Because
I’m running it a bit hard at the moment with some work (I think
my latest change to HOL is an improvement functionality-wise, but I
think it may have also made some things a bit slower), the fan is
coming on pretty frequently. Apart from this, there’s no other
noise. Quiet can be so delicious.
But that quiet means there's no air-flow in the building, and we've just been told over the building PA's system that an early lunch might be advisable as a result. My battery power meter says 28 minutes remaining, but even if it lasts a while longer, I won't be able to upload this until main power is restored because at least some of the network switches between here and Jamie’s cupboard are not working.
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